Sometimes people "listen to their heart", or in times of rationalization they "listen to their head".
Why don't people ever say "I'm listening to my ears"? They seem the best thing to listen to, since they actually do the hearing.
Monday, March 16, 2009
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Maybe
Maybe I have a very good grip on who I am, but what I lack is a grip on where I came from.
I look at an old high school acquaintance with a very Polish last name, who got married, to a very Polish guy. I have no idea how much of that consciously factored into her decision, but I doubt it was coincidence either. I feel like if I knew what my birth parents were like, what kinds of foods they enjoy, who they keep company with, I might have a better idea of where I'm heading in life. At the same time, I feel like that's totally irrational, that I'm looking for a quick way out. How can I reasonably expect genetic material to determine the course of my life?
I look at an old high school acquaintance with a very Polish last name, who got married, to a very Polish guy. I have no idea how much of that consciously factored into her decision, but I doubt it was coincidence either. I feel like if I knew what my birth parents were like, what kinds of foods they enjoy, who they keep company with, I might have a better idea of where I'm heading in life. At the same time, I feel like that's totally irrational, that I'm looking for a quick way out. How can I reasonably expect genetic material to determine the course of my life?
Friday, March 13, 2009
Dear UMPC, Netbook, MIMD Makers,
My name is Will Read. I know what I want, and none of you suckers are making it. Do as i say and you'll bank millions.
Basically, I want to throw this thing in my pocket and be able to listen to music and take and make phone calls without pulling it out. When it is in my hands, I want to watch movies from Netflix, surf the web, edit my docs on google, send email with a fair amount of ease, IM my friends, and get some hot-map action to get me where I'm going (on foot, bus, or by car). I should be able to document my life with photos and video, and teleconference with someone if needed. I want to hook it up to my TV when I want to share stuff with people. Leave off the pointing device. My finger will do the walking, or I can bluetooth in a mouse if I really need it.
This is what I have wanted for the last three years. It's what people don't yet know that they want, but once you put it in their hands, you'll win. I'd pay $1500 for such a device, but I think the price point for most is going to be closer to $1000 to replace their computer, phone, and camera in one awesome device.
- 5-7" wide-screen
- Should fit in a standard guy's pocket. The ladies can throw it in their purse.
- 802.11a/b/g/n or as many as you can
- Access to a cell network, 3G, 3.5G, HSPA, whatever, but I better be able to switch carriers pretty easily
- Bluetooth with:
- Stereo audio
- Wireless controls (play, pause, volume, skip, etc)
- Touch screen with multi-touch
- Web-based apps. I don't need MS Office when I can rock Google Apps. Do one better and make your OS run only web based apps like Palm's WebOS and you're golden.
- Speaking of OS, windows is no good on a 5" screen if you want me to use my finger (and you want me to use my finger). Something in the line of Ubuntu mobile would be cool. Make the text and icons friendly for me to use. Create stuff like pinching and scrolling. I like to use my finger.
- Built in microphone
- Headphone jack
- Built in speakers that don't sound like a tin can on a string
- Keyboard, I feel like I could get away with a software keyboard, but it shouldn't cut into my viewing real estate. Slide up to reveal physical keyboard is fine. Samsung's Q1 split thumb board on the sides is good too.
- Back lit keyboard. I will be typing in the dark
- HDMI out. Don't make me connect an audio cable and VGA.
- At least 2GB of RAM. 4 GB would be better
- SSD, moving parts are for the weak. But that said, I'm putting my media and docs on the internet, so don't try to sell me a 60GB SSD for hundreds of dollars. 32GB is fine.
- USB ports. At least two. I'll use them, I promise.
- Built in GPS and a good turn-by-turn map service.
- Web cam, 320x240 at 30fps, no bull shitting me here
- Photo cam, 1.3 Megapixels should be fine. Give me a flash and zoom too. i don't want to carry around this big thing just to take blurry images.
- Leave off the Ethernet jack. The whole point is I don't want to be wired.
Basically, I want to throw this thing in my pocket and be able to listen to music and take and make phone calls without pulling it out. When it is in my hands, I want to watch movies from Netflix, surf the web, edit my docs on google, send email with a fair amount of ease, IM my friends, and get some hot-map action to get me where I'm going (on foot, bus, or by car). I should be able to document my life with photos and video, and teleconference with someone if needed. I want to hook it up to my TV when I want to share stuff with people. Leave off the pointing device. My finger will do the walking, or I can bluetooth in a mouse if I really need it.
This is what I have wanted for the last three years. It's what people don't yet know that they want, but once you put it in their hands, you'll win. I'd pay $1500 for such a device, but I think the price point for most is going to be closer to $1000 to replace their computer, phone, and camera in one awesome device.
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Spent an Afternoon in Prision
This past Sunday I was holed up in a cell in the nation's most notorious prision: ALCATRAZ. Did you know it was a national park? Did you know it started off as a Civil War fort? Since they were set up to hold prisioners, it eventually lost the cannons and just became a holding place. Did you know that the warden and his family and many of the guards lived on the island? Did you know you can take a sweet audio tour of the cell house? Did you know that it arguably has one of the best views of San Francisco? I know all of these things now.
The Dickersons were in town and Matt had it on his list to go. I'm not sure i would have made the trip if it was just me, but I'm glad I went. They also talked about a wide variety of birds that lived on the island, but I could only spot the sea gulls. One of the things that got my brain juices flowing was that Alcatraz was added to the national prison system as a result of the Great Depression/Prohibition and it gave me pause about our current economic times. It seems like it might be easy to make a choice that resulted in a new kind of crime, like deciding that alcohol should be outlawed.
Here's a link to the ALBUM of my photos from the island:
The Dickersons were in town and Matt had it on his list to go. I'm not sure i would have made the trip if it was just me, but I'm glad I went. They also talked about a wide variety of birds that lived on the island, but I could only spot the sea gulls. One of the things that got my brain juices flowing was that Alcatraz was added to the national prison system as a result of the Great Depression/Prohibition and it gave me pause about our current economic times. It seems like it might be easy to make a choice that resulted in a new kind of crime, like deciding that alcohol should be outlawed.
Here's a link to the ALBUM of my photos from the island:
 |
| From Alcatraz |
New Hat!
I got a new hat, and it's exactly the hat I've been wanting since high school. It's not a base ball cap, and it isn't an old man hat, it's some crazy hybrid, but still tweed. I've put all of my other hats away.
Monday, March 9, 2009
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Watchmen
The Dickersons and I went to the AMC Metreon and saw an 11:30 showing of Watchmen on Friday night. I enjoyed the movie for the visual effects, the general story, but I really liked the line of questions Matt came up with afterward. Questions like "Does the ends justify the means?" and "Could you live with a lie?". I might be spoiling the movie in the next few lines here so you may want to abandon ship if you don't want to know what happens.
Matt thought that everyone feels like Night Owl is easy to identify with in regards to his struggle to do good, but to deal with the wrong his fellow mask did in order to preserve the peace. I felt like I didn't have any night owl in me at all. I felt more like Rorschach, where all of life is black and white, where he always was comfortable with his actions, where he always adhered to his principles. I like that Rorschach wanted to get the truth out there, that it would then be in the hands of the people to decide what to do with it, how to behave. The Cold War, which was the cause for the uneasy peace, was an obfuscation, a hiding of the true intentions, no trust.
I also felt like if I had to pick, I'd take Rorschach at my side, even though he may seem a little psycho, over Dr. Manhattan who didn't really seem to care one way or the other. There's a lot of texts out there that claim in-aciton is just as evil, if not more so, than doing an evil act.
Matt thought that everyone feels like Night Owl is easy to identify with in regards to his struggle to do good, but to deal with the wrong his fellow mask did in order to preserve the peace. I felt like I didn't have any night owl in me at all. I felt more like Rorschach, where all of life is black and white, where he always was comfortable with his actions, where he always adhered to his principles. I like that Rorschach wanted to get the truth out there, that it would then be in the hands of the people to decide what to do with it, how to behave. The Cold War, which was the cause for the uneasy peace, was an obfuscation, a hiding of the true intentions, no trust.
I also felt like if I had to pick, I'd take Rorschach at my side, even though he may seem a little psycho, over Dr. Manhattan who didn't really seem to care one way or the other. There's a lot of texts out there that claim in-aciton is just as evil, if not more so, than doing an evil act.
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Shoes
I find I'm much warmer overall now that I'm wearing shoes that aren't made of canvas. I know I shouldn't be surprised, but I am.
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